Marks was born to James Marks, a
U.S. Marine veteran who served during the
Vietnam War. She graduated high school at age 16 before attending community colleges in
Arizona. Marks joined the
U.S. Army in July 2008 aged 17 and earned the military occupational specialty 68W, Health Care Specialist. While
deployed in
Iraq in 2010 she suffered bilateral hip injuries that left her disabled; she has a tattoo over most of her right leg. Marks, then known by her married name
Elizabeth Wasil, recovered from her injuries, first in
Germany, then at
Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at
Fort Sam Houston in
San Antonio,
Texas. While it initially appeared that Marks could be declared unfit for duty by Army medics, she set a goal to become fit for duty. She began swimming as way to complete additional physical therapy and cardio while at BAMC and obtained the fit for duty classification on July 3, 2012. ==Career==